Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Stopper

Starting pitcher:
M.C. O'Connor

I really wanted to be at the yard tonight chanting "Vogie, Vogie, Vogie." He dominated a red-hot Minnesota club to snap the skid and lead the team to win number 40. It was another impressive outing by the Giants diamond-in-the-rough righthander who has given up two or fewer runs in nine of his ten starts. He leads the team in both ERA and FIP, which ought to make both traditionalists and saberists happy. His 7th inning was a brilliant clutch display, getting two strikeouts after back-to-back hits before yielding a run on a weak grounder that Brandon Crawford bobbled. Righetti came out for a chat and Vogelsong got pinch-hitter Matt Tolbert to fly out harmlessly. Eli Whiteside was the hitting star with two hits (one a triple!) and three RBI. The Lopez-Romo-Wilson triumvirate did the rest, although Sergio appeared to injure himself after striking out Michael Cuddyer in the 8th. Nate Schierholtz had two walks and a hit to crack the .300 OBP line. He's getting his chance to play, let's hope he can be consistent and make fewer outs as the season goes on.

I know it is only ten starts--most regulars have 15 at this point in the season--but Ryan Vogelsong is making a case for being on the NL All-Star team. What do you think? Should Ol' Boch pick Vogie?

A big win tonight. You have to think that these guys can't really lose more than five in a row. Once through the rotation, sure, but twice? I don't think so. Tim Lincecum gets the rubber match tomorrow afternoon. With the Diamondbacks keeping the heat on, the Giants could sure use a dose of Timmy being Timmy.

6 comments:

Aside from many other problems that I have with the All-Star Game, one issue that I have is that it rewards players who perform in the 1st half of the season, while under-valuing those who typically (or in an individual season) perform in the 2nd of the season. That being said, I like to assess worthiness for an All-Star Game by a full season of body of work. Thus, in this case, July 2010 - June 2011. Applying my logic, Vogelsong, while solid & awesome, doesn't get in. Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum are still my guys.

My previous post about acquisitions was misinterpreted as advocating splashy irresponsible acquisitions of big-name players. If there's a reasonable path to get Reyes with a guarantee of him signing a longer term deal, sure. But, that's unlikely. I'm more on the page of picking up multiple solid pieces - proven veterans who can contribute - sort of the position player versions of Javier Lopez & Ramon Ramirez.

Yeah, I think we all feel that way. But that still requires an answer to the "who" part.

Jamey Carroll is probably available cheaply. He's running out a .300/.369/.364 line mostly at 2B and SS, but has played 3B. Not very exciting, but that's what you get when you are looking for "proven veterans who can contribute." There has been some talk that Mark Ellis is on the radar.

It really is a calculation of what basically expendable-by-some-other-team player you can get for someone on our team who could help that other team. Then you have to ask how much better our team would be with that other player. So, if we are not going to get very much better, we have to give someone for whom we don't lose much that another team would actually want. Anyway, if we want someone who can actually do something more than be marginal, here is a suggestion on who to trade: Vogelsong. I'm not in favor of doing this, because then we don't have that 6th pitcher, but these days it seems that, not unlike a working government, a sixth pitcher is kind of a luxury we can't afford. If we can't trade Zito because of his contract, and won't eat 3/4 of it, and we can't trade Sanchez for his potential value because of his flakiness of late, and trading Madbum/Timmy/Matt would be suicide, then Vogelsong is the one guy on our team that I can think of that could net a front line (not superstar, but front line) hitter. And if we can't make a real (not marginal replacement player value) trade, I would just as soon not do anything, let Crawford and Schierholz play and ride it out.

The immortal Pudge Rodriguez gets mentioned now and then as a temporary fix at catcher. I don't know about his availability, but how cool would that be? Marty Lurie has the hots for Caddayer, the Twins right fielder, as the kind of bat we need.Vogelsong would be leading the entire majors in ERA, if he had enough innings.

Pudge is too old and can't hit any more. No real upgrade there. Michael Cuddyer is a good player but a FA at the end of the year. He's also 32 and mostly an OF/1B/DH and possible 3B type. Ross, Torres, Huff, Rowand, and Sandoval aren't going anywhere. Schierholtz is a possible trade candidate but will probably not draw much interest. His glovework, speed, and lefty bat make him pretty useful and valuable to Bochy even if he goes back to being a reserve.

The more I parse out the pieces--what the Giants have, could trade, and what's out there, the more convinced I am that nothing much will happen. The Giants are mostly going with what they've got. There may be another Bill Hall type on Sabes' radar, but I wouldn't expect an "impact bat."

And I think the Giants will have the best chance of winning if they keep their current overstock of pitchers intact. I'm as guilty as the next guy for whining about offense and demanding upgrades, but when you look at it in terms of real bodies and real trades there aren't any attractive options.